Ontario Early Years Child & Family Centres coming to Northumberland

The Ontario Ministry of Education has determined all provincially-funded child and family programs will be unified into a single system of learning and care, starting in 2018.

Ontario Early Years Child & Family Centres (OEYCFCs)will becreated in every community to deliver such services.

These centres will offer high-quality early years programs for children. In addition, there will be resources for families such as parent workshops and service referrals, as well as programs specific to the needs of each community, such as housing supports, literacy training, food security, and recreation opportunities.

Planning for OEYCFCs

As part of this work, families and caregivers with children up to the age of 14 were surveyed in March 2017 to gather information about local needs around early years services and supports. Over 1600 hard-copy and online surveys were collected from throughout Northumberland, as well as data from four focus groups. View infographics capturing key results.

Findings were included in the County's OEYCFC implementation plan, which was approved by County Council on September 20, 2017. The plan is now with the Ontario Ministry of Education for review.

Next Steps

The County's implementation plan recommends nine OEYCFCs across Northumberland. These new centres will replace Ontario Early Years Centres (OEYCs) starting in 2018. Locations for these centres have been proposed based on the provincial government-mandated approach that they be based in schools, where possible. See a listing of proposed locations.

Locations for these main hubs may change throughout the intial implementation process, though there will always be at least one centre per municipality. In addition to these main centres, targeted programs are also being planned for surrounding communities.

The County will continue to keep the community updated on the launch of OEYCFCs in Northumberland as more information becomes available.